The morning after Veterans Day, USA Today published an investigation that rippled through the Army community: This August, for the first time since soldier suicides spiked in 2009, the service began offering waivers to recruits with histories of drug and alcohol abuse, depression, bipolar disorder, and “self-mutilating” behaviors like cutting — conditions that previously disqualified would-be enlistees.

Military recruiting is growing more difficult by the day,andmany lay the blame squarely at the feet of the Millennial generation. But is this actually fair, or is it time for the military to rethink its hiring practices?

Online job databaseCareerCast released its annual job rankings list on Thursday, and to nobody’s surprise, “enlisted military” came in 197th out of 200 occupations, making it the fourth-worst job in the United States. The surprising thing, however, is that the profession is slipping: Last year, it was only the fifth worst.